we are timeless
by katanafleet
Summary: Darkness makes her free. Less afraid of the consequences of any of her actions, far more willing to take that next step with the man she loves with all her heart, a step that they agree after it's over and she's resting on his chest was a long time coming. A few mornings later, she's all but forgotten about their single, precious night together—the darkness is taking hold.


It was all so romantic—the man she loves, taking her out on a romantic ride on horseback to a romantic field of flowers to say romantic things and share romantic kisses. Romance is something that Emma Swan hadn't truly appreciated or tolerated before she fell in love with Killian Jones and then she met the man, who in fact personifies every facet of romance, so yeah, she now appreciates romance.

So when they get back to Camelot and he starts to leave her at her door with a soft, chaste little kiss, she can't really stop herself from pulling him into her room and divesting both of them of their clothes and letting Killian have his unbearably loving way with her.

Darkness makes her free. Less afraid of the consequences of any of her actions, far more willing to take that next step with the man she loves with all her heart, a step they agree after it's over and she's resting on his chest was a long time coming.

He stays in her room that night, and she gets the first night of true sleep she's had since she plunged the dagger into the darkness. They sleep pressed close together, close enough that Emma can't hear the whisper of the dagger. They wake in the middle of the night and press each other's skin with desperate kisses and whispers of their future.

A few mornings later, she's all but forgotten about their single, precious night together—the darkness is taking hold. Touching Killian brings Emma back, just feeling the roughness of his cheek under her hand always has, but the darkness is twisting everything, twisting her memories and feelings. She can't lose him, he and Henry are the two people she will _never_ lose, no matter what happens. But when she loses him—

The darkness is the only path. The only way she can save him.

So she forces herself to forget that beautiful day among the middlemist and in his arms that night, and she focuses on keeping him alive. He can hate her, he can refuse to see her again, but she has to keep him alive and get the darkness out of him. Nothing matters to her, not anymore. She's never cared if she was okay in the end. She _has to save him_.

But when she can't save him—

When the _one_ thing she would have sacrificed _everything_ to save is gone—

Well, then she starts noticing that even when stressed, she normally never gets sick at any random hour of the day. She normally never feels tired all of the time, like she's constantly hungover. And her breasts are weirdly sore, like she's on her period—and there it is, there's the whole not remembering having her period in—a really long time.

So in her stupor after Killian's death—after she's done lying on their bed and crying for hours at a time—she wanders out of her house—their house, it was supposed to be theirs—when her parents aren't there for their we-need-to-check-on-Emma-every-three-hours visit (which are probably to make sure she hasn't started using dark magic or thrown herself off the roof in an attempt to either bring Killian back or join him) and slowly wanders to the drugstore.

Walter would normally engage her in some conversation, like "How are you, Emma?" or "How's Henry, sheriff?" or "Can a few of my brothers and I drop by and help keep your front lawn nice and spring-like?" However, when he sees her expression, which probably looks half-dead, if not fully dead, and the pregnancy tests she languidly throws on the counter in front of him, he doesn't say a word, just offers a sympathetic half-smile-half-frown and lets her wander out of his store when she's signed her name on the receipt.

By the time she's back in her house with the doors magically locked and staring at the test sticks in the bathroom and the timer ticking the few minutes away, Emma isn't in that stupor anymore. She wouldn't say that she's scared or anything of what the tests may say, not really—she's absolutely terrified.

She doesn't know how to raise a child; all she has is fake memories. Of course she knows she can have this baby and raise him or her to be a wonderful person, with Henry and her parents and Regina to help. But she doesn't _want_ to, not without Killian. Killian's been her rock, her support, everything she's leaned on for more than a year now. He would be a wonderful dad and she _wanted him there and_ —

The timer beeps. Without thinking about it, she darts her eyes to the tests, determined to know before she psyches herself out. They both have two cheerful lines. Emma can't help but let out a dry laugh that probably sounds insane and let her head rest against the wall. She can't even let herself think about the little bean growing down there that's half her and half Killian—

Her hand darts down to her stomach involuntarily and she can feel just a little bit of a swelling that can't be anything but their child because the immortal Dark Swan didn't eat that much—because she was constantly sick. Irony.

Of course, her mind instantly starts thinking of what to do and what the baby will look like as she throws the tests away and waits a moment to make sure she's not going to throw up. Then Emma walks out into the living room and lays down on the couch, fiddling with the ring Killian gave her. Then she's thinking of the baby (she wants it to have Killian's eyes) and stabbing Killian (worst moment of her life) and the night the baby was conceived (around eleven weeks ago, as far as she can tell, that was a _great_ night) and Killian again (she misses that man so much her eyes are burning again).

Then the dagger whispers to her, and she lets her new Emma Swan's Problem of the Day fade to the background.

She blackmails Gold into taking her to the Underworld, not telling him that she's pregnant with Killian's child, only that she can't live without her pirate, just saying the absolute truth that _Killian didn't deserve any of this_ —and Gold agrees. So they're standing on the shore of the cursed lake with her family and Gold cuts his hand and they walk into the water and the boat emerges from the deep, dark water.

They get into the boat, all of them somehow fitting comfortably. The rocking of the boat makes Emma slightly more nauseous than she already is, and her mom notices, of course, and grabs her hand and squeezes tightly. Everyone on that boat from hell thinks that she's just nervous about getting the man she loves back, but that's not all, and they can't know yet.

Honestly, her dad wouldn't have let her leave the couch if they'd known.

The boat swirls into a whirlpool that flashes past Emma's eyes in a vision of tortures—foster homes, Lily's betrayals, Neal leaving her, baby Henry disappearing behind the door, Henry lying in the Storybrooke hospital, Henry being taken by Greg and Tamara, leaving her family at the town line, watching Neal die, watching her mother die, her father stabbing Killian, running Killian through with Excalibur. It's over quickly, and, judging by everyone else's gasps and soft sobs and muffled cursing, they all saw the horrors of their pasts.

The whirlpool slows and stops and Emma immediately retches over the side. Mary Margaret pats her back absentmindedly and Henry starts to ask a question of concern but no one's not paying attention because the Underworld looks like Storybrooke but the light's all wrong and she could swear those are a few Lost Boys on the shore.

She feels like she's going to throw up again. And she does.

Finally they rouse themselves enough to get out of the boat, Regina still sniffing a little bit from the visions, and they make their way to the shore through the murky water. Then all of them stand on the shore of the Underworld.

Emma takes the lead, her parents and Henry right behind her. She assumes that Regina, Robin, and Gold are in the back, but she's not paying attention to them—she has to find Killian, she will find Killian, and she will bring him back to Storybrooke, the land of the living.

Of course, it's not that easy. They find dozens of people that have bones to pick with one of them, and they have to move slowly and warily through the Underworld, trying not to attract too much attention. It's been a week, as near as Robin can figure, in the Underworld, and they haven't gotten to the creepy version of the docks yet.

Every night they make camp in an abandoned house along the road. Emma always wanders to her own room in the house, somewhere a little farther away from the quiet whispering of the others and close to a bathroom, and Henry always finds her in the night and Emma always wakes when he slips into the bed next to her.

Usually she forces her stomach to wait until Henry's sleeping again to run to the restroom and let nature take its not-just-morning sickness way. Then she gets back into bed and lets Henry snuggle into her until finally she's calm and mostly content and sleeping peacefully.

Every morning starts out with throwing up and then eating copious amounts of the pancakes that Mary Margaret makes. Really, she's surprised that Mary Margaret hasn't noticed the whole situation, since Emma can certainly see the slight roundness and she's not going out of her way to be subtle and particularly secretive with the tight shirts she's still wearing, the only clothes she brought to the Underworld.

Of course, Mary Margaret pulls her aside a few minutes after breakfast. She gets that motherly face and asks gently, "Emma, are you sick?"

Emma then has to say, "No." Then of course she's going to add the all-important clarifier, but Mary Margaret starts in on her motherly lecture.

"Emma, you need to take care of yourself, I know how much stress you've been under recently but you have to keep your strength and your health to find Killian—"

Right then it's enough so Emma calmly sighs and says, "But I am pregnant, if that's of any interest."

That immediately stops Mary Margaret of course and she stares for a moment and then calmly-not-so-calmly calls, "David!" and naturally the whole group comes running and Emma has to dispassionately explain to everyone the circumstances that surround the undoubtedly momentous event going on in her lower abdomen. And she has to remember that Henry's heard far worse and probably seen far worse in his thirteen years of life and then she has to work on not wincing or blushing or stammering because she's an adult for heaven's sake.

"Basically Killian and I went on a date in Camelot and I jumped his bones when we got back and voila, three months pregnant."

Then she has to deal with awkwardness from Gold and Regina, kind and genuine congratulations from Robin, excitement and embarrassment from Henry, threats to kill Killian from David, and utter shock and truly overwhelming enthusiasm from Mary Margaret. Emma's feeling like she's going to have to run, whether straight to Killian's arms, wherever they are, or just back up to the room, but a flying monkey attacks—it's probably Walsh—and so they have to abandon the premises through a nicely placed back door. Regina quickly fireballs the monkey, leaving it incapacitated for a while.

David starts in on no running while pregnant and Mary Margaret offers the granola bar she'd had in her pocket for some unknown reason after the stress of the sudden monkey brings up the pancakes in not-pretty-at-all colors. Eventually Emma just has to walk a few hundred paces ahead of the rest of the group. Because—she's glad they're all supporting her, yes. She's glad they're all here, in the Underworld, with her. But she knows that none of them are here for Killian; they're all here for her, not willing to let her go alone. Except maybe Henry.

Then they're attacked by a few more monsters and they lose their way through the Underbrooke, as Henry has taken to calling it, and they wander around for another day or so, but suddenly Emma knows where they are. Her house in the Underworld is mostly the same as Storybrooke's version, but the fence and porch railing are chipped and falling, and the front door hangs on one hinge. And she can't go in, she can't even look at it, she's not sure if she can't really see it because there's tears in her eyes or because the world is suddenly doing cartwheels—

When she wakes up her eyes are burning, that she can feel even with her eyes still squeezed shut. Then she recognizes the sensation of being held, like someone's cradling her to their chest, and then she feels someone squeezing her hand tightly. She hears faint murmuring, a deep soft rumbling right next to her ear, and tiny little sobs coming from the vague direction of the hand-holder.

She opens her eyes slowly and it's David's chest that she's cradled against and Henry's holding her hand and Mary Margaret's crying next to him. Regina and Robin stand awkwardly in the doorway of what appears to be a little tent and she can hear footsteps outside, probably Gold's. At her questioning glance, David quickly explains.

"You took one look at your house and collapsed, Emma. I barely reached you in time before you hit the ground, lucky for me it seemed like you were falling in slow motion. Robin and Regina got the tent up when the flying monkeys started coming. By the way, Emma, I think you've lost too much weight, please try to eat," he says with pleading eyes. "Flying monkey attack for a few minutes. Then Regina checked up on you and the baby, and—"

"As far as I can tell the baby's fine, and you, Miss Swan, are overwrought, emotional, and three months pregnant," Regina calls into the tent. David blushes, probably at the word "pregnant." Honestly, Emma sometimes doesn't know how she was even conceived—and then she remembers tacos and tries to perform a magical memory wipe but that fails, and she's forced to listen to her parents again.

Mary Margaret then joins in on the explanation. "Then Henry told us about Operation Light Swan. And we're so sorry, Emma, somehow we refused to see how much you love him."

"Because no one's ever going to be worthy of you, least of all a pirate," David mutters.

"And of course we're here to rescue him as your happy ending, the man you love, the father of your child, and David's best friend." Mary Margaret is telling her all of this with tears rolling down her face and a slight glare directed toward David, who sheepishly nods and helps Emma sit up just a little bit.

And suddenly Emma remembers what Mary Margaret had to do to get back to Storybrooke, after Peter Pan's curse. They've been in the same situation, really, killing the man they love to save everyone. And now Emma's going to save Killian just like Mary Margaret saved David and Mary Margaret explains this with a few more tears.

So then, Emma starts tearing up, squeezes Henry's hand, and buries her face in her dad's shoulder. David cradles her head in his hand and murmurs a soft "it's okay" into her ear—it's not okay, it's never really been okay for any of them—but she lets herself believe it for a few minutes. She will find Killian, Killian will return to Storybrooke with them, she will have his child, and they will have a future together.

Now that they know where they are, they can probably get to the docks much faster, probably. Because that's where Killian will be, the docks, he will be at the docks caring to the Underworld version of the _Jolly Roger_ , that's where he'd been for hundreds of years and death couldn't stop that, Emma knows. Of course then David decides that even though Regina said she and the baby were fine they're not moving until Emma feels completely normal again. In other words they're camping here for the night, maybe for a few days until David starts to get over his overprotective dad syndrome.

Regina checks on the baby again the next morning when everyone's out doing who knows what, has Emma pull her shirt up just enough to see the little bump, and Regina waves her fingers over her stomach and Emma can feel a tingling sensation not unlike the gel she vaguely remembers from the ultrasound almost fourteen years ago. She then asks a few questions in a monotone. "How are you? Do you feel strange at all? How long ago exactly did you have sex with the pirate?"

Emma easily answers, not blushing at all to her credit. "I'm fine, I feel physically fine except I'm hungry, and if I remember right it was about twelve weeks ago."

Regina nods, mutters, "You need to take it easy, and the baby's doing strangely well for everything you're going through." Then she magics up some waffles, and starts to leave.

But Emma can't help but see how jealous Regina looks, so she calls her back, and they have one of those incredibly awkward heart-to-hearts that Emma never wanted to have, turns out that Regina took a potion ages ago so that she couldn't have children, and recently there hasn't been a day that goes by that she hasn't regretted taking that potion just to spite her mother. There's nothing Emma can say, nothing at all—she slept with Killian once and now she's pregnant with his child—accidentally.

But she puts the waffles to the side as Regina's stepping out of the tent and pulls her into a hug. As hugs go it's definitely the most awkward of Emma's life, probably, including that one with Hook on the top of the beanstalk, even though that wasn't supposed to be a hug. But Regina accepts the hug and lets her guard down just enough to rest her chin on Emma's shoulder and take one shuddering breath. Then they pull apart from each other and Regina leaves the tent. Emma sits back down with her waffles, who are in fact her new best friends.

Emma brushes her hand over her stomach as she's eating the waffles. Weirdly enough she's okay with everything now. They've only got one option as to where Killian can be and that's the docks, which won't take long to get to. There's a protection spell around this tent and she has really excellent waffles with just enough chocolate syrup. And her baby is doing well, something unexpected considering Emma's been through darkness, great emotional trauma, traveling to the Underworld, and they've been doing much running from monsters.

It's the first time Emma's been happy since her night with Killian in Camelot.

Finally David lets them start moving again, lets Regina take down the magical tent and Emma can go outside for the first time in two days. Mary Margaret immediately decides that she's going to be up front with Emma, not that she can really do as much as she'd like, no magic, but—oh, she wants a heart-to-heart.

So they talk for a few attack-free hours about everything that's happened—Emma going dark, Mary Margaret not being able to do much of anything, losing Killian twice, going to the Underworld to save him. Then Mary Margaret starts them in on the baby. "I'm so excited! My second grandchild! Are you excited? Are you hoping for a boy or girl? Killian's going to be so happy, Emma, I can't wait to see his face when you tell him!" And there's just so much ecstatic excitement that Emma can't really take it. But she smiles along, even if the smiles might be a bit strangled, and then suddenly she can smell the ocean and she stops in her tracks.

Mary Margaret of course panics and thinks there's something wrong and Henry runs up to Emma and grabs her hand. Because of course he knows what's going on, he knows that they're so close to Killian. Then Mary Margaret realizes and brushes away the tear that Emma hadn't realized fell. David clasps Emma's shoulder and Gold makes some smart comment and they keep going. Henry doesn't let go of Emma's hand.

Henry's the first one to see the _Jolly Roger_ and he points it out and Emma can't handle it anymore, she starts running, Henry letting her hand go but keeping pace easily. They get to the beautiful ship, its paint chipped and dull but it's the most beautiful thing Emma's seen in the Underworld. All they can do is stare and wait and get their courage up, everyone else standing behind them when they catch up.

Then, hand in hand, Emma and Henry walk up the gangplank to the ship, which isn't moving at all, despite the small waves of the water. They're standing on the deck waiting and wondering, "Where is Killian?" when they hear him.

A whisper. Just a whisper behind them that makes Emma stiffen and Henry grin. "Emma?"

Emma turns and whispers, "Killian."

He backs up. "No, no, you can't be Emma, she's in Storybrooke, you're another trick, you're a whisper in my head, you're what _he_ wants me to see—"

Emma releases Henry's hand and slowly walks toward Killian, up the stairs. "Killian, it's me, I'm really here."

"We're here to bring you home!" Henry calls from below.

"Oh, and Henry's here too, this is exactly like _last time's_ , good work, Hades! You're losing your touch!" Killian screams to the sky.

"Killian, it's us. It really is," Mary Margaret says. They've made their way up to the deck of the ship, Regina and Robin holding hands at Henry's side and Gold standing in the background. David's a few steps from the bottom of the stairs, but they're not making any move to join Emma. "We've come to bring you back to Storybrooke."

"Well, I take it back, _Lord of the Underworld_ , this time they're all here. And the Crocodile too. The reason why I'm here," Killian growls. He steps past Emma, so careful not to touch her, and stands beside the wheel, glaring at Rumplestiltskin. "The one who took Milah, then my hand, then my _Emma_ , then my life—no better punishment, really." He wheels around to face Emma. "Unless seeing her is a worse punishment." He slowly steps in front of her, his eyes dark and longing and hungry and agonizing and _loving_. "Knowing I can never find her again."

"Killian, it's me." Emma reaches a hand out to brush his cheek, the scruff that's soon going to be an actual beard, but he flinches away. "Please, Killian," she whispers.

Of everything she imagined—he'd be angry, he'd never want to see her, he'd have found Milah and moved back to her, he'd have lost all memory of her, he wouldn't be in the Underworld at all—she hadn't imagined this. That he wouldn't believe it was her.

"Killian, you have to come back with us," David says. He's moved closer to the bottom of the stairs, Mary Margaret at his side. "Emma's found a way to save you."

"There's no way to save someone from the Underworld, _Dave_ , unless you're the Dark One." He doesn't take his eyes off Emma. "And you may have brought the Dark One with you, but he would never do anything to save me. Oh yes, Crocodile, I know what you did. Moving the darkness back into you, _very_ clever, felt it the moment Excalibur fell away, the darkness leaching back into you."

"Killian, you have to believe that it's us," Henry calls. "Mom, prove it."

"How can I prove it to you, Killian?" Emma asks. She can feel a tear rolling down her cheek. Killian's eyes follow it, desperate to brush it away, but she's apparently a hallucination, so touching her isn't going to work, he thinks his finger would go through her.

"Well, if you're so _desperate_ for me to believe a hallucination and try to bargain my way into a deeper trap with the lovely Hades, tell me one thing that only I know, me and Swan."

And of course, there's one thing. One thing that only they knew for so many weeks. Emma takes a deep breath because it's one thing telling your family that you're pregnant, it's something completely different telling the father of your child. So she dives right in. "That night you took me riding, to the field of flowers." Killian takes in a shallow breath—clearly none of the other hallucinations had mentioned this—and his eyes don't so much sparkle as _gleam_. "You took me back to my room, intended to leave it at that, and I pulled you back inside."

Killian's eyes are darker, remembering that night.

"I've no idea what the hallucinations have said, Killian, but please, listen," Emma pleads. Because she'd known that he wanted children, just looking at the house he chose proved that. Killian starts to nod but stops himself. She's about to blurt out that she's pregnant, but his eyes are still hard, not entirely Killian—

But then Emma changes her mind. Before Killian can pull away, she grabs his hand and presses it to her stomach. He's confused for a moment, no idea what to do, doesn't immediately pull away from her, and then he realizes. His glance moves from her face to her stomach, where their hands are resting on their child. He starts to ask "Emma?" and she's about to grin and nod but they're interrupted by the flash of a thousand memories, a thousand words, a thousand moments they shared, a vision of the life they've had, will have. Emma sees every moment he said "I love you" in words that somehow meant more than those three, and she can tell that he's seeing every moment she meant it and every time she started to say it and—

It's their lives together. Something about the Underworld, they can see everything, and with their hands pressed to where their baby is sleeping, they can see the past and the present and what may come and when Emma blinks it's gone.

Killian opens his eyes. "Emma," he says with loving certainty.

"Killian," Emma whispers. It's all she can do to not grab him and kiss him, but her family is right there and staring. Then Henry runs up the steps to join them and jumps into Killian's arms, his hand moving from Emma's stomach to support Henry and to make sure they didn't fall flat onto the deck of his ship. Henry makes some sort of noise into Killian's neck that Emma can't be sure isn't crying, and Killian hugs Henry with as much ferocity as Henry is clutching him.

Then David and Mary Margaret make their way up the steps, Henry letting go of Killian only for David to hug him, the tight embrace of brothers. Mary Margaret hugs him, Killian's glance at Emma screaming "Help me" but she lets go quickly enough, then kisses Emma on the forehead. Killian nods at Robin and Regina when they join the crowd on the top deck. Gold, understandably, stays below.

"Why did you all come?" Killian finally asks, his voice choked and slightly confused.

"It was Miss Swan," Regina says. "She figured out what Gold did and decided she couldn't live without you, so here we are."

He turns to her in shock, his eyes glittering, and then finally, finally, he pulls her into his arms. She buries her face in his neck, breathes him in, because he still smells the same, like leather and the sea, and he presses his forehead into hers. "You found me," he whispers.

And she can't help whispering back, "I will always find you." Then she pulls away from his embrace because they've found him, he knows everything now, and they have to get him and them out of there. "We have a plan, Killian."

And because he knows her, he knows this family, he can't help raising one eyebrow because whatever happens, it's not going to go well, probably. Emma hears the reluctant sigh in his voice when he says, "What is the plan?"

Emma takes a deep breath, because he's not going to like this at all. So she explains as quickly as she can that the only way to get someone out of the Underworld is to make a trade, one life for another. "So before you protest—there is technically another way."

"Mom's going to split her heart," Henry blurts out. Killian stares at Henry, then at everyone else's somber faces, then turns to Emma. He's glaring, or nearly so.

"No," he whispers, his voice hard and unmoving. "You can't."

Emma can only roll her eyes and ask, "Why not?"

"You might _die_ , Emma. And what about the baby?" It's the first time he's said it out loud and he can't help a smile, Emma can see the joy in his eyes for a moment, but he quickly moves back to the whole Emma's-going-to-rip-her-heart-in-half thing and his eyes switch back to desperately adamant refusal. "No, I won't let you."

"There's nothing about letting me, Killian," Emma says. "I've made up my mind—"

"But what if it doesn't work, what if you die and we lose you—and my _child_?"

Emma walks back up to him and grabs his lapels, bringing his face down to hers so that she can look directly into his beautiful blue eyes. "I believe my heart is strong enough for both of us, Killian. Do you?"

He starts to say something but Mary Margaret interrupts. "Killian, Emma loves you. I know we haven't been very supportive in the past, but we believe in her love for you."

Emma pulls away from Killian just enough to see her parents' faces. David nods slowly. "Hook, she brought us all down to the Underworld on the slightest chance that we could save you. I suggest you accept and trust in her—love." Emma can't help grinning at the fact that her father still has trouble admitting that she is in love with someone, although the truth that she is in fact in love with Captain Hook does still throw her for a loop every now and then.

Killian gently pulls her hands away from his jacket and takes a few steps away from her to look out at the water. The sea of the Underworld is calm, dark, and menacing. All of them let him think for a moment, because maybe finally she's gotten through to him, that she believes in her love enough to risk her life, to risk their baby's life, on the chance that they can get him out of the Underworld. Emma lets him stand there for a few moments alone but they've got to get out of there, so she steps up to the railing next to him.

He turns silently and glances at Emma, his eyes red and desperate but agreeing that it's their only way to get him out of the Underworld. He brushes his hand quickly against her stomach and they turn back to everyone else. "Okay. Let's do it," Killian says, his voice resigned but with a strange sense of excited joy—probably that they're going to get out of the Underworld, that they're going to get their happy ending, that he's going to be a father—possibly just that Emma believes so much in her heart and in their love that it's making him as giddy as it's making her because nothing can really go wrong now, they're going to go _home_ —

"Regina, you do it," Mary Margaret says. Emma starts to protest but then has to wonder if she really wants to pull her own heart out, that sounds rather painful—and then Regina's nodding and Killian's grabbing her hand and Regina's walking forward and her magic must be able to understand that Regina's not really doing any harm and she desperately wants her heart to be removed because _flash of agony_ and then Regina is holding Emma's heart in her hand.

They all stare at her heart for a moment. There's a swirl of black circling the inside, but the rest is the brilliant red that Killian's was when she put his heart back in his chest. The black makes it somehow poetic, showing that she's never really been all good, and recent events certainly haven't assured it, but Emma can't help but notice that David and Mary Margaret look somewhat devastated and slightly disturbed. Probably not just at the black; possibly also that their daughter's heart is sitting in the hand of their former enemy.

She hadn't been expecting much, hadn't known how she'd feel when she didn't have a _heart_ in her chest anymore, but she doesn't feel any different—that love, love, love that brought her down to the Underworld still burning, protection for her unborn child, adoration for Henry, who's standing there next to David, apprehension clear on his face but he nods encouragingly. Seeing her heart beating in Regina's hands, which are moving to grasp it for the splitting of the heart, isn't affecting her.

Regina asks "Ready?" and Emma nods and Killian wraps his arm tightly around her, his hook pointed away from her shoulder, and holds her hand tighter, the muscles in his jaw flexing. Then Regina twists her hands and Emma's heart twists with it and it's agony, it's like watching the doctors take Henry away or watching the light fade from Killian's eyes, but then it's over and Regina's holding the halves of her heart in either hand. And then Killian's positively _beaming_ as he looks down at her because her heart _is_ strong enough, she _does_ believe in and want their love _so_ much that her heart could be split in half.

Then Emma's bracing herself for Regina to put the hearts into their chests but she pauses. Regina holds the hearts out to Killian and Emma. "Here. You two should do it," she says, a tiny smile on her face as they take the hearts.

They cradle the pieces of Emma's heart and Killian looks terrified but Emma whispers, "It's okay, you can do it," and he nods slowly and then he presses her heart back into her chest. She can't help the gasp of pain but then she can feel it, her heart again, it's beating, and maybe there was something different with her emotions when it was out of her chest, because now her love for Killian and their baby and Henry and her parents has only increased.

And then Killian rests his forehead against hers and nods and _he trusts her so much_ , and then she pushes the heart into his chest and he winces but then pulls back and his eyes are glowing with love and she's sure he's going to kiss her even with her whole family there but then—

A sinister laugh. "Well, Captain, isn't this a splendid little gathering?"

Killian tenses and pushes her behind him, turning to look down at the deck of the _Jolly Roger_. She peers over his shoulder to see a man in a pinstriped suit leaning against the mast, smiling serenely up at Killian. "Hades," Killian growls. "What do you want?"

"Oh, nothing," he says in a sing-song voice that reminds her of Gold. "I just happened to be glancing over my realm and saw a strange thing. People. Living people. So of course I zoomed in" he waves a touchscreen tablet at them "and saw that they were hanging out with my favorite pirate! And I arrived just in time for a touching display of true love. It's truly adorable, Killian. I do applaud you and Emma."

"What do you want?" Emma repeats Killian's words. Hades giggles in an uncanny imitation of Rumplestiltskin. She suddenly realizes that this has been part of Killian's torment over the past few weeks—Hades is dressed up like Mr. Gold to hurt Killian, to constantly remind him of those three hundred years and and of what he's lost to the man standing only a few feet away.

"Oh, my dear Miss Swan," Hades says cheerfully and slowly. "It is true, that your pirate is no longer dead. Your cute little switch-a-roo did succeed in that." She can't help squeezing Killian's arm just a little, because it worked, their love was strong enough, he's alive again, they can bring him home. "However, there's no reason I can't keep all of you here forever."

"You can't do that," Regina murmurs. "Since we're not dead, we can leave the Underworld."

"Oh, you can definitely leave. I never said I would let you," Hades growls. Then he's standing next to Emma, and then he's grabbed her arm and pulled her from Killian, and then they're both next to the mast, and then there's a dagger at her throat. Everyone on the top deck gasps, Killian's a shout and Henry's a cry and Mary Margaret's a shriek, but they're frozen in place. Emma doesn't try to move away from the dagger, not yet. "Killian Jones! I know what this woman did to you up in the Land of the Living. I have seen your pain throughout your stay in my realm! I know exactly how you dreamed of hurting her, in your very darkest moments, the seconds you never really let yourself think. For everything she did to you—prevented your revenge, didn't return your feelings for so many months, turned you into the very thing you hate most, _killed_ you—I know exactly what punishment you want to see, in the very darkest part of you."

"Do not touch her, do not lay a finger on her!" Killian screams. He's struggling against his magical bonds, and Emma can't help but try to move away from Hades' grasp and the dagger that is slowly, slowly digging into her skin, not enough to break the skin yet. She tries to use her magic, transport herself out of the way, but she can't.

"Ah, ah, Emma, don't try to get away," Hades warns happily. "Your magic cannot save you now, not from me. And Killian, my boy—I honestly don't know why you care so much for her. She's the woman who _killed_ you!"

There's a moment of silence where they all stare at each other, Emma at her parents and Henry, trying to say she's sorry, then at Killian, trying to say how much she loves him, but she can't, the dagger's cutting off her air and she can feel a coolness on her neck that can only be a few drops of her own blood. Killian's eyes are dark, promising revenge if something happens, but there's a faint note of triumph.

"No," he says. "Emma's the woman who _saved_ me." Then he's broken free from the magical bonds and a white flash of magic streams from the hand he's pointing at Hades. Suddenly Hades is lying on the ground a few feet away from Emma, and she's holding the dagger with her blood on it. She hears footsteps running toward her. Then Killian's standing beside her, holding her closely.

Hades laughs. "And there's a side effect that I hadn't considered," he says with an unfathomable amount of amusement in his tone. "Transfer of magic born of true love. You have in fact bested me, if just for now."

"You will let us go peacefully from the Underworld," Emma snaps. She is completely out of patience with the Underworld, frankly, and she really just wants to go home with her pirate. "You're going to call off all your minions and prevent them from attacking us so that we can get back to Storybrooke without destroying too many more people."

Hades laughs again. She hates the man's laugh. "Of course, I would expect something in exchange," he declares as he reclines on the ground, Killian's magic—because apparently sharing her heart with him gave him magic?—seemingly tying him down. "I ask that when the two of you eventually die your probably peaceful deaths, that you do it at the same time. It's too much bother for my poor monkeys, trying to keep all of you under control in _my_ kingdom."

"We'll do our best to make sure they die at the same moment," Regina says wryly. They're all standing behind Emma now, Robin and Mary Margaret with arrows pointed at Hades and a ball of fire happily crackling in Regina's hand. Emma can't help but grin just a little—like when one of them dies, she's going to immediately stab the one left behind, so that they won't ever be without each other, which is weirdly romantic, even if it does involve Regina murdering one of them.

"Now, Hades, you're going to let us leave your realm in peace," Killian says, his tone dark and promising bad things, to say the least. "And you will never hurt _my family_ again."

"Oh, Captain Jones," Hades mutters wistfully. "It was such a wonderful few weeks we enjoyed together. I will miss you, Killian." Then he winks and disappears, leaving only a shadow like a drawing made with charcoal on the deck and a stench of sulfur that lingers in their noses.

They wait in silence for a few moments, making sure that Hades isn't returning. Then, finally, Emma can turn to Killian and bury her face in his shoulder and just breathe him in and listen to his heartbeat because _he's alive_ and they're going to get back to Storybrooke.

Killian brushes his hand over the cut on her neck, the line probably in the same place as the thick scar on Killian's own neck, and it's healed with a glorious tingling and Emma can't help but grin. Then he lightly presses his forehead into hers and his hand against the tiny swell of their child. "Let's go home," she whispers.

"Aye, love," he whispers back. "Let's go home."

Their trek out of the Underworld is much easier than the first journey, but it still takes them a full two days, with only a brief rest at night because David and Killian both insist that Emma needs rest but she doesn't let them stay long because she really just wants to get out of the Underworld. Even though Killian does sleep with his arms around her and his hand resting on the bump and she has never really felt so loved as in those few moments that they're awake together and watching each other's faces and she can feel his breath on her cheek and feel his heartbeat under her fingertips and his fingers are dancing on her stomach.

Then they're standing at the bank of the lake, ready to cross back into the Land of the Living. Hades must have informed Charon that they can pass, that they _bested_ the Lord of the Underworld, and they get into the softly rocking boat with no trouble and scarcely a scolding word from Charon. Then he's rowing them away from the Underworld.

The motion of the boat makes her sick again, naturally, so Killian jokes quietly that it's just going to have to be him and Henry on the _Jolly Roger_ for a few months until she can set foot on it without nausea. But it's a short journey compared to the previous one and then they're walking through the dark water of the lake back into Storybrooke.

Then they step onto the shore, all of them, and the relief Emma feels is almost enough to send her falling backwards into the nearest person, who happens to be Robin, but then Killian wraps his arm around her waist and she can breathe easily again because she's home and he's home and they're together.

For a moment it's all a big group hug, Gold having vanished the moment they stepped back into Storybrooke, and a little crying from Mary Margaret, and a lot of grinning from Henry, and complete joy in Killian's eyes. Everyone breaks off into little groups, Robin and David talking about repairs they have to do in Storybrooke, Regina, Henry, and Mary Margaret all thinking out loud at once about a welcome-home-it's-nice-you're-not-the-Dark-One-anymore-also-guess-what-guys-they're-having-a-baby party for Emma and Hook at Granny's.

Emma's watching her family, smile on her face, she knows it, Killian's head resting against hers. She turns and looks up at him, the happy tears in his eyes glistening in the light of the sun. Then, finally, Killian wraps his hand around the back of her head and leans down and kisses her.

For a moment she can just relish the sweet and familiar feeling of his lips on hers again, finally, after so many days of waiting and wishing and working to get him back, it's like she's finally home, but then she feels something different. Warmth pools in her chest, magic sparkles between them, and it's the same feeling as when she woke Henry from the sleeping curse and somehow she knows _this is true love's kiss_.

Killian smiles against her mouth and she can hear cheering and Mary Margaret's squeal and when she eventually pulls away there's a light she's never really seen in Storybrooke.

Like their kiss has taken the darkness away, finally.

The big welcome home party doesn't happen for another few weeks, not until Emma's had a proper check-up—the baby is confirmed to be unexpectedly healthy despite traveling between worlds and Emma's transformations into and out of the Dark One and her stress throughout—and Killian's had time to recover from his time in the Underworld—he recovers quickly with enough kisses and hugs and reassurances—and then Killian makes them leave an hour early for the party.

And of course he doesn't take them right to Granny's, he takes them to the _Jolly Roger_ , the first time they've been on his beautiful ship since the Underworld, and right then and there on the deck he asks her to marry him. She agrees on the condition that they'll get married as soon as possible, tomorrow, if possible, and he consents with a kiss that wipes every last smudge of darkness from the deck of the ship. Then he gets down on one knee and kisses her slowly growing stomach, and then he slowly slips the ring that once belonged to Liam on her finger. Then she pulls him up and kisses him again and they're only barely not late for their own party.

There is a long banner on the wall that reads in mismatched letters "Congratulations That You're Not Dead Or Evil And That You're Having a Baby" and Killian can't help but laugh at the sign and Emma just scowls and puts the macaroni they'd almost left on the _Jolly_ on the counter next to Mary Margaret's broccoli casserole. Then they wander around for a few minutes, arm-in-arm, letting everyone say hello and hugs be distributed all around.

Walter winks from his spot between Blue and Grumpy and Emma can't help but grin at him because he was the first one who knew about baby Jones. Then they run into Robin and Regina, Regina holding little Audrey and Roland perching on Robin's hip and staring awestruck down at Audrey, who's passed into Killian's arms without much of a warning, leaving Killian to quickly figure out how to hold a baby and Emma to stare in absolute open-mouthed gaping because somehow he's never been more attractive than with a baby in his arms and his hair flopping over Audrey's little head.

Regina notices the ring and just offers a small smile of congratulations as she and Roland walk off to find some food for the growing boy. Audrey starts whimpering so Robin takes her back, probably to Killian's relief, and then Henry finds them. He immediately asks Killian, "Did you ask her?" and Killian merely nods with a grin and a high-five, Henry quickly explaining, "Killian asked me if he could ask you to marry him!" and that only makes Emma fall more in love with her pirate. Because he asked her _son_ if he could ask her to marry him. Because he's always known that Henry's always been first, he's always been the one she's asked about everything, and she loves that Killian's doing the same.

Then they get ambushed by Granny, who admires the ring and winks at Killian, and a few dwarves, who all offer hugs and slightly apprehensive looks, because this is also a "Hurray You're Not Evil Anymore" party. Granny hands Killian a glass of rum and Emma a mug of hot chocolate that's starting to cool just a little but the whipped cream is still perfect.

Eventually they sit in the corner of the booth they always share with Emma's parents on double-dates, and Mary Margaret and David find them there a few minutes later. Mary Margaret sits down happily, pleased that this party she put together is a success and that there hasn't been an invasion of a Dark One, not that one was expected. Then she notices the ring on Emma's finger and nearly screams, "You finally asked her, Killian?" and Emma's left wondering if Killian asked the entire town if he could become betrothed to their mother, daughter, princess, previous Dark One, and sheriff.

David glares for a bit, and Emma figures out that David is upset because Killian didn't ask him first—apparently the pecking order in Killian's book is Henry, baby Neal, Mary Margaret, Granny, _then_ David. But eventually Emma and Mary Margaret smooth things out and Mary Margaret agrees that a wedding as soon as possible is good because soon Emma's going to be moving up a dress size every week and frankly a wedding tomorrow is just easiest.

So they decide to meet with Henry and Archie on the _Jolly Roger_ the next morning for the second-smallest royal wedding ceremony in the Enchanted Forest's history, probably, following Snow and Charming's first wedding.

The party keeps going long after the two main guests of honor leave and retreat to the _Jolly Roger_. The wedding is the next morning, and it's as beautiful as possible, and Henry's best man and David walks Emma down the makeshift aisle in her loose white dress, and they've never smiled more, and a rainbow bursts over Storybrooke when Mr. and Mrs. Jones kiss.

Liam David Jones is born a few months later. The exhausted parents look down at their tiny baby in Emma's arms and decide their child's first bedtime story is going to be about him.

Not so much the romance, no, that's a bit much for a baby a few hours old, they decide.

This is going to be the story of how they found each other. The story that's never going to grow old, the story that's going to live forever, the story of how Emma found Killian and how Killian found Emma. To the end of the world, or down to the Underworld, or to the very edge of time.

Although a bit of the romance wouldn't be completely amiss, they decide, when Liam smiles up at them and they fall in love once more.


End file.
